


Would love to spend a day in the clouds

by det395



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-24
Updated: 2018-07-24
Packaged: 2019-06-15 18:52:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15419373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/det395/pseuds/det395
Summary: There was so much she knew she’d never see, that no one would likely ever see. The secret life of Dan and Phil, heads up in the clouds and secrets held on another planet with overwhelming contentedness.Their manager ponders Dan and Phil and all of her assumptions about them.





	Would love to spend a day in the clouds

Sometimes she had to stop herself from staring at them. It was unprofessional and strange, but it wasn’t like she had bad intentions. A fan might accuse her of having a crush but it was hard to explain how absurd that was to her. She couldn’t remember meeting any two people who seemed so unavailable. For her it was just pure, overwhelming intrigue.

It was coming up to afternoon now, she’d been up at her usual time of 9am to check through the upcoming venues and send out emails. By this point, she had a copy and paste list of their accommodations so it didn’t take too much time and she could usually watch episodes of Brooklyn Nine-Nine in-between until the boys finally entered the room.

She felt almost guilty for scheduling so many meetings in the earliest slot she could now that she saw them drag themselves out of bed (always at the same time, as though they waited for each other) looking barely functional at noon.

Phil was usually the chirpy one, always spewing out with random small talk and co _nversation. What city has been your favourite? What are you getting for dinner? Have you watched [insert popular media she never watched]? Do you like dogs or cats more?_ She honestly enjoyed it, she loved talking for the sake of talking, but mornings were quiet. Phil didn’t say anything past a ‘good morning’, always polite at least, then he just stalked right over to the coffee pot. Dan usually said a greeting too but was standoffish, as usual, until a topic of his interest was brought up. He had a lot of interests, at least, so he talked a lot.

It was the same routine this morning (afternoon) with heavy steps walking down the bus, the odd stumble making an audible bang against the floors (that must be Phil, Dan always stepped heavy and flat while Phil bounced around and got his legs all twisted up). Dan was wearing soft looking sweats and a strange, large t-shirt with cats on it that probably had some inside joke around it that she couldn’t remember. Phil had a bright t-shirt and bright pyjama pants on, clothes that made her always wonder if Phil got them from some teen store that didn’t quite have his size because they were short enough to show his ankles and always looked too tight against his ass. A couple weeks ago, she’d seen Dan pat Phil’s butt as he walked by and she pretended not to notice.

“Sleep well?” She asked. Dan nodded, smiling at her, but Phil was concentrating on pouring the coffee she had ready for them. It was almost anxiety-inducing to watch, his hands so shaky that he looked like he could throw the pot across the room at any moment with his other hand still clutching the counter for balance. Dan stood close behind him, she wondered if he’d catch Phil if they hit a bump and Phil went tumbling. She had to turn away when Phil grabbed the milk and cereal, he was even more careless, spilling milk all over the counter and it always stressed everyone out. Dan was always giggling at Phil during these moments.

They sat at the little table across from her and sipped at coffee. She watched them for a moment, staring into each other’s eyes for a few moments as if silently communicating. She wouldn’t really be surprised if they understood each other that well.

Of course, when she’d been signed on, she watched video after video. It wasn’t part of the contract or anything but as a good manager, she should understand the content and the fans. She’d come to know quickly that they were known for their chemistry, and she felt like she could have come to the same conclusion after spending just a bit more time with them. She wondered if she felt the same intrigue as some of the fans did, always feeling like she was missing out on something.

She watched videos from every year of their career and went on all the social media she could think of, scrolling through their “tags” and seeing the mass of opinions. From an outsider’s view, it probably looked like she was studying boring articles rather than watching some admittedly endearing videos, sat there with a notebook in hand writing down her observations.

_Dan:_  
_• Younger, started later than Phil_  
_• Self-deprecating—fans seem to relate more than laugh at him_  
_• Seems very loud and outgoing (obnoxious) but talks about being awkward and quiet_  
_• Philosophical but makes it funny_  
_• ~~Llamas, Maltesers, Delia Smith~~_ ~~?,~~ _ ~~placenta?~~ Not anymore_

_Phil:_  
_• A bit strange_  
_• Animal noises_  
_• Strange encounters, childhood stories, lots of trends (challenges) (invented many himself), creative_  
_• Videos less structured, silly editing_  
_• More carefree and lighthearted, feel-good content_

That was when she was writing a pitch for sponsors back a few years ago. She felt like she had their branding nailed by now, it was quite specific, but it had always felt like she was missing a big part of their fame. Of course, that shouldn’t matter much to brands.

_Etc._  
_• Same fans for the most part? – mostly young?_  
_• Shipping: “emotional involvement with the ongoing development of a relationship in a work of fiction”, OTP: “one true pairing”_

She tried to get into the heads of people who followed them. Dan and Phil were hard to describe, sharing so much yet seeming like such a mystery. People liked their chemistry, and it seemed to have spiked their popularity, judging by the documents of YouTube statistics and demographics she requested. When she googled it, she got pages of fan-made fiction and discussion forums, which she quickly decided would be too unprofessional to even observe. Just as a friend, she knew she would always keep a distance from that side of things.

The first meeting they’d had would always stick with her when she thought of those things. It was undoubtedly one of the weirdest meetings with new clients, partially because they were quite awkward. She knew they weren’t lying in their videos at that point, they were very unlike the exuberant, confident creators she’d met before.

“It’s so nice to meet you! I’m Phil,” Phil said, eyes bright, holding eye contact.

“I’m Dan.”

They shook her hand across the table. Phil’s hands were soft and his grip was firm, as though he’d been taught how to do a proper handshake sometime in his life. Dan had a loose grip, holding her hand delicately and smiling wide so his cheeks puffed out a bit.

They all had casual small talk for a while, though Marianne could see the nerves emitting off the boys. This was an important time, they were all going to be working together a lot and nothing was set in stone, they all needed to make a good impression. She was surprised they seemed a lot more nervous than her, this might as well have been a job interview for her.

They got down to the nitty-gritty stuff eventually. They wanted full control over their content, needed to review every brand deal and discuss any events they were invited to. It was a lot less stress for her, at least, some of her clients wanted her to take control of a lot of creative events.

She had contracts ready for access to their accounts and to speak on behalf of them and for privacy. They took the privacy contract and skimmed through every page, Phil suddenly looking a lot older with furrowed eyebrows and a tight-lipped frown. Was it a frown? Maybe she was just used to him smiling a lot.

“Privacy is really important to us,” Dan explained as some silence dragged on.

“Of course, we will do all that we can to keep your privacy.” She assured.

“Does that include staff members being limited to sharing stuff about us?” Phil asked. She showed him where it was in the booklet.

“There’s a lot of rumours in the YouTube community and we, uh, y’know, just want our private lives separate. So, we’re looking for a company that takes privacy really seriously and can handle strange public image or public relation things. Not that it'll be crazy, we're not going to have any Britney meltdowns, promise,” Dan said, laughing awkwardly.

She thought over the word “strange” for a moment but it didn’t seem respectful to ask. She smiled and explained their policies and pitched her own values. She liked Dan and Phil, they were polite and friendly, easygoing and responsible, and seemed to have high morals. She knew she could come across any kind of character in the entertainment industry. She wanted to work for them and she didn’t much care for whatever rumours they had going on. The company had run a background check for serious offences, anyways.

They all signed the contracts in the end and she ended up with some of her favourite clients she’d had in her whole career. She knew they’d all go as far as to say friends, too.

“Any dreams?” Phil asked, taking a spoonful of cereal into his mouth. He looked up expectantly at Marianne.

He’d had enough coffee to be excitable again, apparently.

“Uh, God, I don’t remember. I think I did dream and it was a little scary. We probably died on the tour bus, or something,” she said, racking her brain. She should start writing this stuff down when she first wakes up for Phil’s sake.

“Hopefully it’s not a premonition. Dan?”

“Just a really, really nice dream about Antoni from Queer Eye,” Dan said, a smile threatening at the sides of his mouth.

“Oi!” Phil exclaimed, accusatory and amused.

She knew what it was all about by now, the rumours and fan content, the mass of pride flags brought to their meet and greets, the intrigue around their collaborations all these years later. They had never told her anything, but they didn’t hide it either, which might as well have been the same thing.

They shared the bedroom in the last tour, after a public announcement that Dan was in a bunk instead. That was the most obvious, but she picked up on other things, too. When they sat and watched Speed, they sat pressed up against each other and she saw their legs crossed over each other’s, peeking out from under the blanket.

At management parties, they often ended up alone at the end of a table chatting away and she wondered what they still talked about after all this time. They were always watching each other, even if nothing was going on. They bounced ideas off of each other in almost incoherent sentences but always seemed to understand each other. They put all their finances into a joint bank account. They picked out each other’s coffee, breakfast, drinks, and movies, completely in tune with each other’s likes and dislikes. They flirted incessantly, poking and teasing and pranking each other, joking around about what must have been inside jokes because she often didn't understand.

She felt mildly aware that she was missing a huge part of them. When they didn’t know she was watching, they stared in each other’s eyes, smiling, raising eyebrows and nodding heads as though it was a secret code. Leaning in close to each other before rocking backwards, glancing around the room. Had she so much as seen them hug? She doubted it.

There was so much she knew she’d never see, that no one would likely ever see. What all those pictures were on their phones and laptops, the ones they turned away from her eyes. What they did behind closed doors, mumbling and movement barely audible from her side of the wall.

She got more of an insight into their lives than the Internet, though, she was sure of it. The mass of gay jokes and slices of life from their home that they deemed too boring or personal to share. It felt just as personal as it felt guarded sometimes.

She wondered if someday she would be suddenly given a wedding or a baby shower invitation, or if all of that romantic family stuff would cease to exist to anyone outside of their little world. She wondered what things would be like in ten years, what the “we don’t plan on anymore travelling after this” really meant.

It was unprofessional curiosity, she knew that. She never understood how anyone could be so invested in a celebrity, but it didn’t even feel like this was the case with Dan and Phil. They were her friends and they had something she might not ever understand, something that made her feel a bit jealous and lonely on the days she missed her husband back in London. Something they would never tell her in words.

They were talking about playing Mario Kart now and asked her to come but she shook her head, talking about the email she’d just gotten about the TBC date in Mexico. They were understanding, offering to help, but she shooed them away. Dan stood up and let Phil walk by, putting a gentle hand on his waist to lead him over.

They disappeared through the little hallway, ducking their lanky bodies through the doorframe and staying close. They probably wouldn’t let anyone into their little world. They were content.

**Author's Note:**

> [reblog on Tumblr if you'd like!](http://det395.tumblr.com/post/176242617897/would-love-to-spend-a-day-in-the-clouds)


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